Door lock for automobiles

ABSTRACT

A door lock for automobiles is disclosed, the door lock comprising a ratchet adapted to be turned by the opening and closing of the door, a latch to permit the rotation of the ratchet in the direction where the door is closed and obstruct the rotation of the ratchet in the direction where the door is opened. Levers are provided each controllable by the outside handle or the inside handle and means are interposed between the levers and the latch to disengage the latch from the ratchet when either lever is operated with the outside handle or inside handle. Locking means are further provided, these locking means being adapted to be operated with the inside knob or by a key, the locking means, when in the locked state, preventing transmission of the motion or turning due to manipulation of either of the outside handle or inside handle to the latch and, when the door is shut without using the outside handle, the locking means being coupled to the latch wherein the movement of the latch due to the turning of the ratchet shifts the lock to the unlocked state and further, when the lock is fastened and the door is closed while manipulating the outside handle, the door can be closed without a key.

United States katent [72] Inventors Tsukane Kondo Yokohama; Kishiro Muroi, Sagamihara, both of Japan [21] Appl. No. 814,143 [22] Filed Apr. 7, 1969 [45] Patented Sept. 28, 11971 [73] Assignee Ohi Seisakusho Co., Ltd.

Yokohama, Japan [32] Priority Apr. 10, 1968 J p [3 1 43/23571 [54] DOOR LOCK FOR AUTOMOBILES 6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

Primary Examinerlan A. Calvert Assistant Examiner-Edward J. McCarthy Attorney-Jacobi, Lilling & Siegel ABSTRACT: A door lock for automobiles is disclosed, the door lock comprising a ratchet adapted to be turned by the opening and closing of the door, a latch to permit the rotation of the ratchet in the direction where the door is closed and obstruct the rotation of the ratchet in the direction where the door is opened. Levers are provided each controllable by the outside handle or the inside handle and means are interposed between the levers and the latch to disengage the latch from the ratchet when either lever is operated with the outside handle or inside handle. Locking means are further provided, these locking means being adapted to be operated with the inside knob or by a key, the locking means, when in the locked state, preventing transmission of the motion or turning due to manipulation of either of the outside handle or inside handle to the latch and, when the door is shut without using the outside handle, the locking means being coupled to the latch wherein the movement of the latch due to the turning of the ratchet shifts the lock to the unlocked state and further, when the lock is fastened and the door is closed while manipulating the outside handle, the door can be closed without a key.

PATENTEU SEP28 l97| (608,941

INVENTOR 73% Ka/vm 141M, Mama! mid-1 ATTORNEY;

DOOR LOCK FOR AUTOMOBILES This invention relates to door control mechanisms of automobile vehicles having a ratchet member rotatable along with the closing and opening operations of the door, the ratchet member being releasably engaged with a latch element for latching and holding the door in closed position, the latch element being capable of manually operating from the outside or inside of the vehicle for releasing from the latched position to permit opening of the door, and the latch element being locked by a key or a manually operable lock-control member disposed inside the vehicle.

The invention has, as an object thereof, the provision of a new and improved mechanism for controlling an automobile door wherein the latch-operating means idle when the door is locked thereby preventing the mechanism from being damaged in an effort to open the locked door by force on the latch-operating means.

A further object of the instant invention is the provision of an improved locking means for automobile vehicles in which the door can be automatically locked without utilizing a key by first presetting an inside lock-control-member and thereafter closing the door with the operation of the outside latch operating means.

The sequential operations necessary for effecting keyless locking of the door as discussed above yield an advantageous result in that the door is prevented from inadvertently locking with the key left inside the vehicle. When the door is slammed without the operation of the outside latch operating means, it will cause the door to automatically unlock even if the inside lock-control member is preset for locking the door.

The present invention will more fully be described hereunder with reference to the accompanying drawings showing an embodiment thereof, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a lock according to the invention in the unlocked state;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the lock;

FIG. 3 is a side view taken along the line A-A of FIG. 2, illustrating the mutual relationship of essential components of the lock in the unlocked state;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the lock in the locked state; and

FIG. 5 illustrates a keyless locking of the door.

In the embodiment shown, a ratchet l is rotatably supported with a pivot 2 by a portion 3a of an angular baseplate 3 which is L-shaped in transverse section. This ratchet l is so disposed that it turns in the same direction as a pinion 4 secured to the pivot 2 at the back of the plate portion 3a that turns in either of two directions depending on whether the door is opened or closed. The plate portion 3a is adapted to secure the lock device to a structural part of the vehicle.

Normally kept in mesh with the ratchet l by a spring 5 is the pawl 6 of a latch 7 also supported swingably with the pivot 8 by the plate portion 3a, the latch 7 itself being formed with an arm 9 at the lower part which extends to the other plate portion 31:. The pivot 8 supporting the latch 7 in this way carries, at the same time, a lever 10 for the outside handle, which lever is formed with an arm lll extending toward the plate portion 3b and biased downward by a spring 12. The arm 1111 of the lever 10 positions below the arm 9 of the latch 7.

The lower edge of the arm ll of the outside handle lever 10 is in direct contact with the front end portion 13 of a lever 141 for the inside handle, which lever M being supported with a pivot 15 by the plate portion 312. The front end portion 13 of this lever 14 rests on a stopper 116. Between the lower edge of the arm 9 and the upper edge of the arm 11 of the outside handle lever 10 is interposed the horizontally bent lower end 17 of a vertical rod I8 which is liftably fitted to the plate portion 3a through a bearing plate 19.

Thus, if a link rod 20 which extends from the outside handle (not shown), is pressed down through manipulation of the outside handle, the lever 10 associated with the handle turns anticlockwise as viewed in FIG. I around the pivot 8 and the arm ll turns upward, thereby cooperating with the lower bend 17 of the vertical rod 18 to push up the arm 9 of the latch 7. As

the result, the latch 7 is turned also anticlockwise as viewed in FIG. it around the pivot 8 and the pawl 6 is released from the ratchet It, thus making it possible to open the door.

If another link rod 21 is pulled by the inside handle (not shown), the associated lever 14 is turned clockwise as viewed in FIG. ll around the pivot 15 and its front end portion 13 urges thearm 11 of the outside lever 10 upward. Thus, in the same manner as by the manipulation with the outside handle, the latch 7 is disengaged from the ratchet to permit the door to be opened with the inside handle.

Further, in the present invention, a locking plate 22 having a horizontal portion 23 is supported with a pivot 24 by the plate portion 3b of the baseplate 3.

This locking plate 22 is engaged with one end of an overcenter-type torsional coil spring 25 the other end of which is secured to the plate portion 3b, so that, if it is turned at a certain angle around the pivot 24 against the urging of the spring 25, the resilient direction is reversed and automatic snap-action locking is made possible. The rocking is initiated either by means of the inside knob through a knob rod 26 or by keying from the outside of the door and thereby controlling a key rod 27.

The top flat portion 23 of the locking plate 22 is provided with a slot 28, through which extends the upper engaging portion 29 cranked from the vertical rod 18, in such a manner that, when the locking plate 22 is turned around the pivot 24 in either direction, the slot 28 confines the movement of the upper engaging portion 29 of the vertical rod 18 to an arcuate path either way. Accordingly, the vertical rod 18 rotates in either direction around its own axis thereby bringing the lower bend 17 thereof into or out of the space between the lower edge of the arm 9 of the latch 7 and the upper edge of the arm ll of the outside handle lever 10.

In the unlocked state, or where the knob rod 26 is pulled up and the top flat portion 23 of the locking plate 22 leans against the plate portion 3b as shown in FIG. 3, the lower bend 117 of the vertical rod 18 is turned into the space between the arm 9 and the arm 11, respectively, of the latch 7 and outside handle 10.

Therefore, if the knob rod 26 or key rod 27 is pressed down by either pushing the inside knob or keying the door from the outside, the locking plate 22 turns clockwise as viewed in FIG. 1 around the pivot 24 and, with the slot 28 of the top flat portion 23 thereof, it urges the upper cranked portion 29 of the vertical rod to turn around its axis. The lower bend 17 accordingly turns out of the space between the arms 9 and 11 of the latch 7 and outside lever 10 and lies sidewise at the back of the latch arm 9 parallelly thereto. The locked state is thus established (FIG. 4).

When locked in this way, the lower bend 17 of the vertical rod 18 is out of engagement with the arms 9 and ill of the latch and outside lever, and therefore if the driver turns the outside handle the arm 11 of the lever 10 simply passes in front of the arm 9 of the latch 7 independently thereof. Thus, the outside handle will not work or will be unable to undo the lock. The front end Illa of the arm 11 of outside handle lever 10 fits in a guide hole 30 formed in the plate portion 3b, and the upper edge of the hole serves as a stopper which defines the upper limit of movement of the arm 11.

As the inside handle is pulled, the front end 13 of the lever M urges the arm 11 of the outside lever 10 upward. However, because the arm 11 merely passes in front of the arm 9 of the latch 7 as stated, the inside handle also swings in vain.

Once the locked state is established by the use of a key or by means of the inside knob, no one can unlock with the outside handle or the inside handle because both handles turn to no avail. For this reason, the lock is subjected to no excessive or objectionable force and hence the related parts can be protected against damage.

In the embodiment of the invention, the lower edge of the lower portion of leg 31 of the locking plate 22 is kept close to and partly in contact with the upper edge 9a of arm 9 of the latch 7 in the locked state.

The lower edge 32 of the leg 31 is curved so that it can be gradually urged sidewise by the upper edge 9a of arm 9 of the latch 7 as the latch is disengaged from the ratchet 1, whereby the locking plate 22 can be turned in the unlocking direction. Moreover, the construction is such that, immediately before the pawl 6 of the latch 7 is tripped from the ratchet l, the coil spring 25 for the locking plate 22 snaps across the dead point, thus shifting the direction of elastic restitution.

Therefore, if the driver forgets the releasing of the inside knob and closes the door in the locked state as shown in FIG. 4, the ratchet 1 turns to rotate the latch 7 about the pivot 8 so as to raise the arm 9 upwardly and to urge the arm edge 9a against the tapered edge 32 of the rocker member 22. A component of the force exerted on the tapered edge 32 causes the rocker member 22 to turn in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 4 until the point where the overcenter spring 25 anchored to the rocker member 22 shifts to a point beyond the line extending between the other anchor point of the spring 25 to the plate portion 317 and the axis of the pivot 24. Then the spring 25 snaps and returns the rocker member 22 to the position as shown in FIG. 3 for unlocking the mechanism.

By this shifting in the direction the locking plate 22 pushes the upper portion 29 of the vertical rod 18 with the slot 28 formed in the top flat portion 23, thereby causing a 90 return movement of the vertical rod 18 around the axis thereof, and hence reentry of the lower bend 17 into the space between the arms 9 and 11 of the latch 7 and outside lever 10 (FIG. 3).

Another feature of the present invention is that, if the door is closed by pushing the outside handle while the inside knob is set for locking, the door can be locked without using any key.

The arm 11 of the lever 10 for outside handle is formed larger in width than the arm 9 of the latch 7 and therefore it is located in front of the latter and also of the lower portion 17 of the vertical rod 18 when one pushes the outside handle.

If the door is closed in this manner, the turning of the ratchet 1 trips the latch out of the engagement therewith. As a consequence, the arm 9 ascends, pushes away the leg 31 of the locking plate 22, and turns the locking plate 22 slightly toward the unlocking direction, which in turn causes rotation of the vertical rod 18 around its own axis.

When the vertical rod 18 has been slightly turned in the foregoing manner, the front end of the lower bend 18 engages with the rear side of the arm 11 of the lever 10 for outside handle, thereby keeping the vertical rod 18 from further turning. This means that the locking plate 22 turned by the latch 7 causes the rotation of the vertical rod 18 with some distortion at the upper portion 29 of the rod 18 that fits in the slot 28 of the top flat portion 23, and it is by the reaction force against the distortion that the locking plate 22 is imparted with the force of restitution for the rotation toward the locking direction.

As the latch 7 is disengaged from the ratchet l and the arm 11 descends to the original position, the force urging the leg 31 of the locking plate 22 upward is eliminated with the result that the tortional force of the rod 18 returns the rocker member 22 to the locked position as shown in FIG. 4 against the force of the spring 25.

For the reason above explained, if one shuts the door by pushing the outside door while the inside knob is in the locking position, he can accomplish so-called keyless locking with no need of a key.

Use of a torsion bar for the vertical rod 18 is helpful to facilitate and smoothen the resetting motion of the locking plate 22 for the purpose of keyless locking.

We claim:

1. A door lock for automobiles comprising a ratchet adapted to turn in either of two directions by the opening or closing of the door, a latch normally in mesh with the ratchet under the urging of a spring, and a lever for the outside handle adapted to be moved either directly or in cooperation with the lever for the inside handle, the lower edge of the arm of the latch and the upper edge of the arm of the outside handle lever having therebetween the lower horizontal portion of a vertical rod which is rotatable handle lever, the inclined lower edge its axis and is freely movable upward and downward, so that the latch can coact with the outside handle lever through the lower horizontal portion of the vertical rod to disengage itself from the ratchet, the upper portion of the vertically movable rod being extended through a slot fon'ned in the horizontal portion of a locking plate having an inclined lower edge portion and being adapted to be swung by the locking of the door from the outside by a key, in such a manner that by slightly turning the locking plate either with the inside knob or by a key the vertically movable rod can be rotated at an angle of about around the axis thereof to bring the lower horizontal portion out of engagement with the outside handle lever, the inclined lower edge portion of the locking plate in this state coming close to and partly in contact with the upper edge of the arm of the latch, so that when the latch is turned in the direction out of engagement with the ratchet the upper edge of the arm thereof pushes the inclined lower edge of the locking plate thereby causing a return swing of the locking plate, said locking plate being imparted with a restitutional turning force by a snap-action spring.

2. A door lock for automobiles, comprising a ratchet adapted to be turned by the opening and closing of the door, a latch to permit the rotation of the ratchet in the direction where the door is closed and obstruct the rotation of said ratchet in the direction where the door is opened, levers each controllable by the outside handle or inside handle, means interposed between said levers and latch to disengage the latch from the ratchet when either lever is operated with the outside handle or inside handle, and locking means adapted to be operated with the inside knob or by a key, said locking means, when in the locked state, preventing transmission of the motion or turning due to manipulation of either the outside handle or inside handle to the latch and, when the door is shut without using the outside handle, said locking means being coupled to the latch wherein the movement of the latch due to the turning of the ratchet shifts the lock to the unlocked state and further, when the lock is fastened and the door is closed while manipulating the outside handle, the door can be closed without a key, and wherein the inside handle and outside handle are connected respectively with pins to one end of rockable levers which, in turn, are pivotally supported by the housing, the other end of the rockable lever connected to the inside handle being coupled with the other end of the rockable lever connected to the outside handle, and the motion or turning of the inside handle for its manipulation is transmitted to the latch through the outside handle lever.

3. A door lock for automobiles, comprising a ratchet adapted to be turned by the opening and closing of the door, a latch to permit the rotation of the ratchet in the direction where the door is closed and obstruct the rotation of said ratchet in the direction where the door is opened, levers each controllable by the outside handle or inside handle, means interposed between said levers and latch to disengage the latch from the ratchet when either lever is operated with the outside handle or inside handle, and locking means adapted to be operated with the inside knob or by a key, said locking means, when in the locked state, preventing transmission of the motion or turning due to manipulation of either the outside handle or inside handle to the latch and, when the door is shut without using the outside handle, said locking means being coupled to the latch wherein the movement of the latch due to the turning of the ratchet shifts the lock to the unlocked state and further, when the lock is fastened and the door is closed while manipulating the outside handle, the door can be closed without a key, and wherein the means interposed between the outside handle lever and latch to transmit the motion or turning due to manipulation of the outside handle consists of a rod member, one end of which being introduced into the space between the outside handle lever and the other end portion of the latch, the other end of said rod member being connected with a locking means such that, when the locking means is in the locking position, the first end of the rod member recedes from the position between the outside handle lever and the other end of the latch to shut off the transmission of working force from the outside handle lever to the latch.

4. A door lock for automobiles comprising a ratchet adapted to be turned by the opening and closing of the door, a latch to permit the rotation of the ratchet in the direction where the door is closed and obstruct the rotation of said ratchet in the direction where the door is opened, levers each controllable by the outside handle or inside handle means interposed between said levers and latch to disengage the latch from the ratchet when either lever is operated with the outside handle or inside handle and locking means adapted to be operated with the inside knob or by a key, said locking means, when in the locked state, preventing transmission of the motion or turning due to manipulation of either the outside handle or inside handle to the latch and, when the door is shut without using the outside handle, said locking means being coupled to the latch wherein the movement of the latch due to the turning of the, ratchet shifts the lock to the unlocked state and further, when the lock is fastened and the door is closed while manipulating the outside handle, the door can be closed without a key and wherein the rod member is cranked and bent at the lower end to provide a link between the outside handle lever and the other end of the latch, the upper end portion of said rod member extending through a slot formed in the locking means in such a relationship that the slot extends with a certain inclination with respect to the cranking direction of the rod and urges the associated cranked rod to rotate around the axis of the lower supported stem in response to the operation of the locking means, whereby the lower end of the rod is retracted from the position between the outside handle lever and the latch.

5. A door lock for automobiles according to claim 4 wherein the locking means consists of an inverted Ushaped member and is tumable supported at the sidewalls to the housing, one of the sidewalls being connected to the inside knob while the other sidewall being in communication with the keyhole assembly, the top wall portion between the two sidewalls being provided with a slot in engagement with one end of the cranked rod member, one of said sidewalls being further provided with a spring whereby the locking means is enable to assume selectively either the locking position or unlocking position.

6. A door lock for automobiles according to claim 5 wherein the spring fitted to one of the sidewalls of the locking means is such that, when the lock has been half operated, the direction of the spring force is reversed thereby shifting the locking means to the locking position or unlocking position. 

1. A door lock for automobiles comprising a ratchet adapted to turn in either of two directions by the opening or closing of the door, a latch normally in mesh with the ratchet under the urging of a spring, and a lever for the outside handle adapted to be moved either directly or in cooperation with the lever for the inside handle, the lower edge of the arm of the latch and the upper edge of the arm of the outside handle lever having therebetween the lower horizontal portion of a vertical rod which is rotatable around its axis and is freely movable upward and downward, so that the latch can coact with the outside handle lever through the lower horizontal portion of the vertical rod to disengage itself from the ratchet, the upper portion of the vertically movable rod being extended through a slot formed in the horizontal portion of a locking plate having an inclined lower edge portion and being adapted to be swung by the locking of the door from the outside by a key, in such a manner that by slightly turning the locking plate either with the inside knob or by a key the vertically movable rod can be rotated at an angle of about 90* around the axis thereof to bring the lower horizontal portion out of engagement with the outside handle lever, the inclined lower edge portion of the locking plate in this state coming close to and partly in contact with the upper edge of the arm of the latch, so that when the latch is turned in the direction out of engagement with the ratchet the upper edge of the arm thereof pushes the inclined lower edge of the locking plate thereby causing a return swing of the locking plate, said locking plate being imparted with a restitutional turning force by a snap-action spring.
 2. A door lock for automobiles, comprising a ratchet adapted to be turned by the opening and closing of the door, a latch to Permit the rotation of the ratchet in the direction where the door is closed and obstruct the rotation of said ratchet in the direction where the door is opened, levers each controllable by the outside handle or inside handle, means interposed between said levers and latch to disengage the latch from the ratchet when either lever is operated with the outside handle or inside handle, and locking means adapted to be operated with the inside knob or by a key, said locking means, when in the locked state, preventing transmission of the motion or turning due to manipulation of either the outside handle or inside handle to the latch and, when the door is shut without using the outside handle, said locking means being coupled to the latch wherein the movement of the latch due to the turning of the ratchet shifts the lock to the unlocked state and further, when the lock is fastened and the door is closed while manipulating the outside handle, the door can be closed without a key, and wherein the inside handle and outside handle are connected respectively with pins to one end of rockable levers which, in turn, are pivotally supported by the housing, the other end of the rockable lever connected to the inside handle being coupled with the other end of the rockable lever connected to the outside handle, and the motion or turning of the inside handle for its manipulation is transmitted to the latch through the outside handle lever.
 3. A door lock for automobiles, comprising a ratchet adapted to be turned by the opening and closing of the door, a latch to permit the rotation of the ratchet in the direction where the door is closed and obstruct the rotation of said ratchet in the direction where the door is opened, levers each controllable by the outside handle or inside handle, means interposed between said levers and latch to disengage the latch from the ratchet when either lever is operated with the outside handle or inside handle, and locking means adapted to be operated with the inside knob or by a key, said locking means, when in the locked state, preventing transmission of the motion or turning due to manipulation of either the outside handle or inside handle to the latch and, when the door is shut without using the outside handle, said locking means being coupled to the latch wherein the movement of the latch due to the turning of the ratchet shifts the lock to the unlocked state and further, when the lock is fastened and the door is closed while manipulating the outside handle, the door can be closed without a key, and wherein the means interposed between the outside handle lever and latch to transmit the motion or turning due to manipulation of the outside handle consists of a rod member, one end of which being introduced into the space between the outside handle lever and the other end portion of the latch, the other end of said rod member being connected with a locking means such that, when the locking means is in the locking position, the first end of the rod member recedes from the position between the outside handle lever and the other end of the latch to shut off the transmission of working force from the outside handle lever to the latch.
 4. A door lock for automobiles comprising a ratchet adapted to be turned by the opening and closing of the door, a latch to permit the rotation of the ratchet in the direction where the door is closed and obstruct the rotation of said ratchet in the direction where the door is opened, levers each controllable by the outside handle or inside handle, means interposed between said levers and latch to disengage the latch from the ratchet when either lever is operated with the outside handle or inside handle, and locking means adapted to be operated with the inside knob or by a key, said locking means, when in the locked state, preventing transmission of the motion or turning due to manipulation of either the outside handle or inside handle to the latch and, when the door is shut without using the outside handle, said locking means beinG coupled to the latch wherein the movement of the latch due to the turning of the ratchet shifts the lock to the unlocked state and further, when the lock is fastened and the door is closed while manipulating the outside handle, the door can be closed without a key and wherein the rod member is cranked and bent at the lower end to provide a link between the outside handle lever and the other end of the latch, the upper end portion of said rod member extending through a slot formed in the locking means in such a relationship that the slot extends with a certain inclination with respect to the cranking direction of the rod and urges the associated cranked rod to rotate around the axis of the lower supported stem in response to the operation of the locking means, whereby the lower end of the rod is retracted from the position between the outside handle lever and the latch.
 5. A door lock for automobiles according to claim 4 wherein the locking means consists of an inverted U-shaped member and is turnable supported at the sidewalls to the housing, one of the sidewalls being connected to the inside knob while the other sidewall being in communication with the keyhole assembly, the top wall portion between the two sidewalls being provided with a slot in engagement with one end of the cranked rod member, one of said sidewalls being further provided with a spring whereby the locking means is enable to assume selectively either the locking position or unlocking position.
 6. A door lock for automobiles according to claim 5 wherein the spring fitted to one of the sidewalls of the locking means is such that, when the lock has been half operated, the direction of spring force is reversed thereby shifting the locking means to the locking position or unlocking position. 